Dr. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, praised Israel’s Iron Dome system on Monday, telling a Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs strategic briefing that “there is no parallel technology in the world.”
The former Likud MK, who has held several ministerial posts, remarked, “40,000 rockets and missiles were launched at Israel from Lebanon and Gaza alone. Iron Dome intercepted the overwhelming majority of them with a success rate close to 99%.”
Prof. @steinitz_yuval at JCFA Briefing on the strategic importance of Iron Dome:
— Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (@jerusalemcenter) May 11, 2026
“40,000 rockets and missiles were launched at Israel from Lebanon and Gaza alone. Iron Dome intercepted the overwhelming majority of them with a success rate close to 99%.”
Without Iron Dome, he… pic.twitter.com/3azkZWNJDF
On the post-Oct. 7, 2023 security reality in Israel, Steinitz stressed that “we are ready to make concessions for peace, but not to risk our own existence.”
He also commented on Operation Roaring Lion against the Iranian regime, asserting that “this was an unprecedented war, won largely through scientific and technological superiority.”
The joint U.S.-Israeli military operation (Washington codenamed it “Epic Fury”) was launched on Feb. 28, and a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8, as Washington and Tehran exchange proposals on formally ending the conflict.
He emphasized that “the nuclear threat was the main reason for the war. Without it, Israel would not have gone to war.”
Steinitz highlighted the unprecedented nature of the operation: “For the first time in history, two countries fought each other directly from distances of 1,000 to 3,000 kilometers, across an entire region and above multiple other states.”
He rejected claims that the war ended without a decisive victory, saying that “I don’t know a better example of a crystal-clear victory in the modern world than the war between Israel and Iran,” adding that the regime was “dramatically weakened” by the campaign.
Steinitz also commented on the impact of strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, saying that “most of the enrichment sites and almost all of the weaponization infrastructure” were destroyed. Before the war, according to Steinitz, Iran could have reached a nuclear weapon within months, but now, he said, “it will take them between two to four years to rebuild everything and produce a real nuclear weapon.”
